Apropos of the Michael Ramirez toon above… Most of you Gentle Readers have heard this by now and I'm remiss in not posting earlier this week about my favorite soap opera (which has been discontinued). But here's the lead paragraph from an occasional e-mail update Mike Dunn, president of the Air Force Association, sends out from time to time: AFA Members, Congressional Staffers, Civic leaders, and DOCA members, as you may know, this week the Senate voted to strip F-22 funds from the Authorization bill. Following that, both Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees announced they would follow suit and not force additional F-22s on the Administration. AFA, of course, believes the Air Force needs more F-22s. We made our case often to anyone who would listen. We did our best to counter the mounds of misinformation on the aircraft. However, we did not prevail. I can only hope that years in the future we won't be forced to say: "We wish we had more of these aircraft."
General Dunn's last line is both massive understatement and somewhat wishful thinking. I'm sure there are already many, many people wishing we had more of these fighters. Like those guys who might have to go to war in 30 year old aircraft…
―:☺:―
I was gratified to hear on the news last evening that there will NOT be a vote before the August congressional recess on yet another half-assed but massive boondoggle legislation our congresscritters haven't read. And my hat is off to the Blue Dog Dems for digging in their heels and refusing to vote for yet MORE budget-busting programs of dubious value.
Not that I would actually know the specific value or lack thereof in the two or three proposed health care bills, as I haven't read them… like, oh… maybe 299.995 million other Americans. And I can guar-an-dang-tee ya most if not all of your congresscritters haven't read the bills, either. Following the health care debate is a massive game of "Who Do You Trust?" (a dated reference, that) and I damned sure don't trust the Democrats to deliver meaningful health care "reform." I don't trust the damned Republicans all that much, either. I'm of the opinion they're all beholden to some interest or another… the trick is figuring out whose interests best align with mine.
All that said… I'm not really one to weigh in on gub'mint-provided health care as I've been served by the military health system in one way or another for all but about 16 years of my life. And that system has been very, very good to me. So far.
(toon by Chip Bok)
All the boondogglery going on in Congress gives me a headache. So, I think we're going to add some good ol' gubmint Tricare to our private civvy policy and hope that we have all our health crises over with by the time The Prez and his sidekick, Pelosi, get out the cattle prods and the stampede takes off.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the F-22 -- sweet machine.
If our Congresspeople can't get the sense out of this bill, how do we expect the "man in the street" to grasp what it really says and will do to health care?
ReplyDeleteI can envision a highly needed operation being held up until the patient because of "a misunderstanding in what papers had to be filed".
Medicine by approval sounds like something I want nothing to do with.
And, yeah, I use the VAH, too. I am shuddering at the "change" coming up for us, Buck.
Moogie: Tri-Care, as noted elsewhere, has been very good to me! I'm hoping the current madness won't result in much, if any change, to what is currently a good system.
ReplyDeleteCat: You're talking about something about which I have no knowledge or experience, if by "VAH" you mean the VA's health care system. I've never been there... But, like I said to Moogie: let's hope the current madness will bypass those systems that work well today.
Having spent a good chunk of my professional career in the TRICARE program on the contractor side of things, I'm gratified to see fighting men such as yourself volunteering these flattering opinions about the services they have received. There is much blood, sweat and tears going into all that. Nothing to compare to the "all" you folks have risked to make yourselves eligible. In fact, our "sacrifice" is negligible because we've been paid for every single minute we spent contributing whatever skills we did, at rates bloated compared to yours. But it's good to see the services ultimately got to where they were supposed to go. I think of it as the least we could do.
ReplyDeleteHowever -- I shudder in apprehension over what I know is coming: The TRICARE program, with all its "greedy" but conscientious corporate executives, many of whom are veterans themselves, being held up as a glittery harbinger of the oh-so-wonderful health care resources that all citizens from sea to shining sea will no doubt enjoy once we have a true Cuban-style single-payer health care system custom tailored to Michael Moore's liking.
I do not believe a greater deception, about a more serious issue, can be perpetrated so effectively upon so many people, in all of human history, past or future. And in spite of their "Blue Dog" problems I do think when the time's right for them to pull those hijinks, the hijinks will be easy to pull. Lots of people will fall for it, and they only need 51%. The dominoes are all lined up.
Like I said. I shudder in apprehension.
I'm hoping Tri-Care kinda stays under the radar, Morgan. It's managed to do just that, so far.
ReplyDelete